


Unfamiliar Setting

by galacticmistake



Series: Strange Happenings in South Park (Whumptober 2020) [13]
Category: South Park
Genre: Broken Bones, Gen, Hospital Setting, Oxygen mask, Panic Attacks, Trans Female Character, Trans Kenny McCormick, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020, alluded child labor law violations, mention of American health insurance bullshit, mention of past workplace accident
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:35:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27169417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galacticmistake/pseuds/galacticmistake
Summary: Token wanted to go home, but he figured that Kenny needed the support, so he stayed.(Whumptober Day 13: Oxygen Mask)(Token and Kenny are aged up to 16 for a high school setting)
Relationships: Token Black & Kenny McCormick
Series: Strange Happenings in South Park (Whumptober 2020) [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951258
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Unfamiliar Setting

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Hospital setting, mention of American health insurance bullshit, panic attacks, broken bones, mention of past workplace accident, alluded child labor law violations

By around 6:30am the next morning, Token found himself asleep in a chair right next to Kenny’s hospital bed.

Truthfully, most of the night had been a blur for Token. He went from a calm, late-night dinner at a local Chinese restaurant to having to drive someone he barely put up with (only because of her friends, tbh. He thought she mellowed out around middle school, though.) to the hospital because she broke her arm at work. They finally let him back once she had been admitted, and even that took what seemed like forever. He finally went home at around 1:30am to wash the bra that had been sitting under the driver’s seat of the car. They let him come back at around 4am, and he took refuge in the sole chair by the bed.

=

At 7am, the alarm on his phone went off, and he awoke from his light slumber to turn it off. He briefly thought about going to school, but he knew that she needed some emotional support throughout the day, so he stepped out of the room for a brief minute to call out and fake some sort of illness. 

The call only took like 3 minutes, and he sat back down in the chair and waited patiently, flipping mindlessly through the television stations.

=

At 10am, Kenny had slowly started to wake up. There was this fogginess in her brain as her eyes slowly opened. And as her surroundings began to materialize, she felt a sense of panic rise in her, practically suffocating her and scaring her out of her fucking wits.

Luckily, a doctor just so happened to be roaming around the halls checking vitals anyways, so they just popped in and tried to calm Kenny down.

At some point, the doctor had fitted a breathing mask over Kenny’s nose and mouth, since her panic was affecting her breathing significantly. 

=

She had only calmed down after about 10 minutes, and it was only then that she noticed the cast on her arm.

“Yeah, you took a rough hit last night.” Token began to explain. “I was with you when they put it on, but you were in so much pain that you barely made it through the doors.”

“Really? God, that was pathetic.” Kenny laughed.

“It really wasn’t. I’m surprised that your boss didn’t notice.”

“Eh. Didn’t really phase me.”

“Yeah…”

Kenny’s face froze in fear.

“Oh shit.”

“What’s wrong?”

“...this. It’ll be so expensive, and we’re struggling as is. They’ll bill my shitty health insurance for stuff like this O2 mask and then won’t cover it. It’s ridiculous, and i just can’t afford this.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Hm?”

“Yeah, my parents agreed to help you out and pay for any of the bills that pop up.”

“...why?”

“They just knew that you’d struggle with this, so they wanted to help. Also, they’re super cool with you being trans. I accidentally told them because they found your bra in the laundry, but when I came back here, they said “let her know we say hi!” so yeah. My folks say hi, btw.”

“...neat. Let them know I say “hi” back and “thanks for the assistance with the bills”.”

“Oh. I have your bra, btw.”

“You do?”

“Yep. Mind if I help you put it on?”

“Only if you’re comfortable doing that.”

“I literally couldn’t give a shit. It’s fine.”

“Alright then.”

=

After 5 minutes, the bra was on, Kenny had her wallet in her good hand, and Token was holding the door open. She definitely felt better with the bra on, emotion wise. Pain wise, it still wasn’t gone, but she tried to brave through it enough. 

The two piled into Token’s car, and Token plugged the aux cord into his phone.

“You can pick the music.”

The car started, and Kenny selected “Sudno” by Molchat Doma.

=

She opened the front door to her house and flopped down onto the couch. Noticing that she was the only one in the house, she put on some TV to fill the room and brought out the laptop from her bedroom.

Upon opening the laptop, she noticed an email that read:

“You still have to come in today, but it shouldn’t be for long. After you finish, I'll get you last nights’ pay and a free meal of your choice.”

Kenny sighed as she responded:

“Sure thing, Mr. Kim. I’ll be there ASAP.”

=

She arrived at the dingy China Wok to find Mr. Kim at a table with a stack of papers.

“...am I getting fired?”

“What? No. This is just some incident paperwork. If you can fill it out, we’ll be able to figure everything out.”

“...you’re being surprisingly ethical for someone who hired me at the age of 8.”

“Eh.” 

Kenny filled out the paperwork with no problem, and she left after 10 minutes with a full pay from last night and a free container of chicken lo mein.


End file.
